1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for increasing the load carrying capacity of pickup trucks, and more particularly to articulable frame arrangements for extending the bed of a pickup truck.
2. Prior Art
Pickup trucks are well known and very common in the United States. They are popular vehicles for all walks of American life. Often they may see duty as a family vehicle as well as a cargo carrying truck for its utility purposes.
A number of approaches have been attempted to extend the cargo carrying capacity of the bed of a pickup truck to at least the area over the tailgate when the tailgate is in its down (horizontal) position. Such an attempt is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,173 to Leitner et al., which shows a wall which is movable over a tailgate of a truck from an inside position on the bed to the over the tailgate position. As is typical with many of these arrangements, these devices take up as much room in the bed, as they add to the truck bed when in their extended orientation. Furthermore, many of these arrangements are unduly complicated and when they do work, merely extend the volume of the truck without adding other capabilities.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is a further object of the present invention, to provide a pickup truck bed extender apparatus which also features the ability to carry a further diverse payload than that shown by the prior art arrangements.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bed extender which protects the rear window of the cab of the pickup truck in the stowed orientation.
It is still yet a further object of the present invention, to provide a truck bed extender that is simple to operate, which extender takes up minimum space, and is unobtrusive within the normal cargo bed of a pickup truck.